siLLy puPPy
Black metal is a style of music that was created to vent a rage, a sort of rebellious call to unshackle oneself from the colonization of mind, body and spirit and although the scene first took off in Europe has translated well to virtually every other part of the globe. Despite the fact that black metal acts have appeared in various regions of the world like Japan, India and South America, it’s more of a surprise to learn about something called Diné black metal, Diné being the word that the Navajo people call themselves in their own language.
MORBITHORY are one of many metal bands on America’s Indian reservations. In a land flooded by the sounds of country music on the radio stations of this largest region of indigenous peoples in the USA, there has been a weekly metal show on the KSHI radio station in Zuni, New Mexico for a number of years exposing the youth to the rebellious sounds that have conquered the planet. A new crop of “rez metal” has appeared and if MORBITHORY is indicative of this movement on these sacred lands then it’s should be clear once and for all that this style of music hasn’t been just a white man’s game for quite some time now.
This band comes from the small town of Many Farms, Arizona located on the Navajo Reservation near the New Mexico border. Formed in 2012 as the trio of Lord Vehexen
(vocals, guitar), Lord Amaris (guitar) and Lord Eligos (drums), MORBITHORY has crafted its own Diné musical wrath that tackles not only Pagan indigenous themes but the usual contempt of humanity that celebrates blasphemy and misanthropy. The rage is about as authentic as it gets given the destructive history of the Europeans having conquered and systematically abused the native peoples. This angsty set of three tracks is about as authentic as it gets.
MOBITHORY so far has only released this one demo that has been turned into an EP titled UNHOLY FUCKING DINÉ BLACK METAL HELL. While only three tracks, they sprawl out past the 19 minute mark. While the band doesn’t exactly reinvent the black metal wheel, this power trio does an excellent job at crafting three kick ass raging tunes that check off all the black metal boxes. Tremelo picked guitar riffs that are dripping in distortion and attitude, got it. Bantering bass lines and blastbeat drumming in full frenetic fury. Oh yeah! Add to that nice variations in the songwriting, great use of feedback and angry pissed off raspy vocals make you thing that this band was a transplant from Darkthrone country, the style of black metal this emulates.
This was an amazingly strong demo EP for this band that called itself Diné black metal but unfortunately has not been heard of since which is a shame because these guys had a great start but given the economic harshness of America’s Indian reservations it’s not too surprising to understand why. It seems there is a thriving live scene despite the lack of viable recorded material. MORBITHORY is a testament to the power of black metal and how it has literally infiltrated cultures seemingly as different as possible from where the misanthropic style of music originated and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. The chops are all on display here and if the band added its own creative forces then they could really turn into something quite unique.